Lahore on Thursday once again topped the global list of cities with poor air quality as monitors showed an average “hazardous” Air Quality Index (AQI) of 335.
According to Newsweek Pakistan, residents of the capital of the country’s most populous province woke up again to the sight of a haze covering the city, with residents complaining of sore throats, itchy eyes and other ailments linked to inhaling toxic material through the smog that has increasingly become a regular fixture.
While the average AQI for the entire city stood at 335 around noon, parts of the city with individual air quality monitors showed the figure rising as high as 763, which posits a PM2.5 of nearly 900 ug/m3 — the equivalent of smoking nearly 40 cigarettes.
While smog is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan, it has taken on greater urgency this year amid ever worsening air quality that is particularly unhealthy for children, the elderly and the infirm. In 2007, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered authorities to prepare a smog response action plan to overcome the health crisis. The Punjab Environment Protection Council, however, adopted a plan that utilised a modified AQI classification system, which claims a PM2.5 rating of 60 is “satisfactory” even though US AQI adopted by much of the world declares it “unhealthy”.
PM2.5 refers to atmospheric particulate matter that has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, so small that they can only be detected with an electron microscope. These fine particles, which can come from various sources including power plants, motor vehicle emissions, and agricultural burning, last longer in the air than heavier particles. This increases chances of them being inhaled by humans and animals, where they can bypass the nose and throat and penetrate deep into the lungs. The air pollution worsens during winter, emerging as smog, due to temperature inversion, which produces a layer of warm air that traps air pollutants.
Meanwhile, schools on Friday will once again remain closed across the city due to smog.Both public and private schools in Gujranwala and Faisalabad will also remain shut.
The Punjab School Education Department has issued a notification in this regard as well.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s son Ali Dar has said that PML-N Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz’s presence in London is essential for her ailing father and former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s treatment.
“Maryam is aware of her father’s deteriorating health and knows his medical history. His [Nawaz’s] sons haven’t lived with him for around 20 years,” Dar reportedly said.
Former premier Nawaz is in London after he was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment despite his convition in corruption cases. His daughter Maryam, however, was denied the same due to the ongoing Chaudhry Sugar Mills case against her.
Granting her bail, the court had told her to submit her passport with the court.
Dar’s demand seeking foreign travel for Maryam to see her ailing father comes amid reports that she will soon be moving the Lahore High Court (LHC) in this regard. While PM Imran Khan has said that Maryam won’t be allowed to go to London come what may, according to some journalists, the government won’t be challenging the move if Nawaz’s health deteriorates any further.
A senior bureaucrat and former managing director (MD) of Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), Waseem Ajmal has told an accountability court that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is forcing him into becoming “approver” against former chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif, Dawn reported.
According to the details, NAB had earlier arrested Waseem, BS-20 officer, on charges of embezzling Rs1 billion in LWMC project and presented him before the court to seek his physical remand as he was arrested the other day.
During his appearance, Waseem stated before the court that the investigating officer, during the interrogation, kept persuading him to become an approver against the former CM.
He added that the NAB possessed complete record of the case but it wanted to extract a ‘confessional’ statement from him.
“The NAB had also put same pressure on me in Saaf Pani case,” said Ajmal adding that the bureau previously kept him in custody for 48 days in the Saaf Pani case but did not interrogate him beyond two hours.
He further claimed that the NAB wasted precious time of his career and found nothing against him. The Lahore High Court (LHC) had earlier released Ajmal on bail in the Saaf Pani case on January 30 last.
The NAB prosecutor had argued that then CM Shehbaz Sharif awarded the contract of LWMC project to a Turkish company-Al-Bayrak on inflated rates which caused a loss of over Rs1 billion to the national exchequer.
The prosecutor said that Ajmal being MD and team leader of the LWMC held a meeting on April 26, 2014, in which he intentionally concealed details from other board members.
Ajmal’s counsel Mian Ali Ashfaq opposed the remand and said his client had to attend a three-month course for promotion in next grade. The court, however, granted 10-day physical remand of the accused to the NAB and sought his appearance again on Nov 30.
Two days after Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan mocked Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for his “rainwater” gaffe, the premier himself has pulled a Bilawal.
“With more inflation, comes more poverty,” ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and the country’s chief executive reportedly said while addressing a ceremony to distribute Rs30 billion refund cheques of sales and income tax among prominent exporters at the PM Office in Islamabad.
He also said that the country had not been able to make significant economic progress due to the absence of long-term economic policies. “China is progressing by adopting long-term strategies… now we are heading towards adopting the same approach.”
The premier said that the country’s South Asian competitors, including India and Bangladesh, had also moved ahead of Pakistan by sticking to this approach and urged the business community to consider the payment of taxes as their national obligation
“The government is firm to uplift the masses and check poverty through wealth creation, tax collection and industrialisation,” he said.
‘WITH MORE RAIN, COMES MORE WATER’:
On Monday, PM Imran had made fun of PPP’s Bilawal over the latter’s “rain theory”.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Havelian-Thakot motorway under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he had mimicked Bilawal and said that his theory had startled scientists across the globe.
“Bilwal has startled scientists worldwide by saying ‘jab barish hoti hai to pani ata hai’ (water pours when it rains). But Einstein rolled over in his grave when he [Bilawal] went on to say ‘Jab ziada barish hota hai to ziada pani ata hai’ (more water comes when it rains more),” the premier quipped.
Coke Studio Season 12 seems to have found itself in the middle of a copyright controversy yet again after two songs of the season were deleted from Youtube.
Sanam Marvi’s first song for the season Hairaan Hua has been taken off YouTube days after it’s release. According to the message displayed by Youtube on the Twitter link, “the video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Abida Parveen.”
Abida
Other than that, Abrarul Haq’s rendition of his iconic Billo has also been removed due to “copyright claim by Karman Entertainment Limited.” Billo was a roaring success and people loved this remake.
Previously, Shuja Haider and Rachel Viccaji’s Saiyyan was not released on Youtube due to copyright infringement. It was revealed that EMI Pakistan had the rights of the Noor Jehan classic and they stopped the song from being aired. However, the matter got resolved and the song was released.
Needless to say, fans and listeners are quite upset with the latest developments.
“Hairaan Hua” song by Sanam Marvi has been removed by coke studio because of copyright issues claim by Abida Perveen. Why didn’t they realize it earlier while composing the song?#AbidaParveen#cokestudio#cokestudio12
What’s wrong with #cokestudio12? Every other day it’s tracks are removed due to God knows what reasons, may be copy infringement since #RohailHayat is well known for the amazing work and as well for such blunders #HairanHua by #SanamMarvi is no more on @YouTube everyone!
first Mahi diyan gallan was copyrighted then Saiyaan then Billo & Now best of whole season Hairaan hua got removed. So much disappointment from coke studio this time. Atleast buy the da*n rights ffs. #CokeStudio12
And then there is always someone who has a jugaar for such problems.
*Advisory for Coke Studio Freaks*
Coke Studio ka koi bhi naya song youtube pai dekhne se pehle meharbani karke song ko Mp3 format mein download karein. Kya pata kab kis ki bhatak’ti aatma copyright strike maar de! #HairanHua#cokestudio12#SanamMarvi
Imran Khan’s former wife Jemima Khan is no stranger to answering questions about her ex-husband, even years after their divorce. She’s quite active on Twitter and was recently involved in another twitter controversy.
In her latest tweet, Jemima addressed Islamaphobia and religion by quoting a quote by British Comedian Ahir Shah.
Interesting observation made by @AhirShah that “Islam is the right wing religion beloved of the left and Christianity is the left wing religion beloved of the right” (which would explain the problem with Islamophobia in the Tory party and Antisemitsm in the Labour Party)
Jemima is no stranger to having to answer questions about Imran Khan, even when she is tweeting about other things but it seems like this time, it really took the wow cake.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif met with doctors after he arrived in London via an air ambulance for medical treatment late on Tuesday.
Shehbaz Sharif took Nawaz Sharif to Guy’s hospital today for check-up, along with Hasan and Hussain Nawaz.
Nawaz will be treated at Hasan Nawaz’s flat and a room has been reserved for him, equipped with the necessary equipment as advised by doctors.
PM tells govt spokespersons not to react to CJP’s remarks: report
In a meeting with government spokespersons, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said, “The government decided to send Nawaz Sharif abroad on humanitarian grounds and after consulting doctors’ reports” and directed them not to react or respond to CJP remarks.
Imran Khan also reportedly said that people were watching Nawaz’s activities in London. He said that the PTI would not play politics over Nawaz’s health.
Talking about the foriegn funding case the premier reportedly told participants of the meeting,”No need to worry about the foreign funding case. PTI’s audit reports are there for all to see”.
PM reportedly said that opposition parties were using the case to keep their politics alive and build a narrative against the PTI.
NA approves Shehbaz Sharif’s resignation as PAC chairperson
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif had earlier stepped down reportedly owing to his personal engagements and now PML-N’s Rana Tanveer is likely to be nominated as the PAC chairperson in place of Shehbaz.
The PAC primarily oversees the public expenditure and, in case of a suspicion of malpractice or corruption, the committee has the authority to investigate the matter and refer the issue to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Shehbaz’s nomination was unanimously supported after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power.
Pakistan beat India to qualify for ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup final
Pakistan on Wednesday qualified for the final of ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2019 after beating India by three runs in the first semi final in Dhaka.
Pakistan — who were defending a total of 267 — restricted India to 264 for eight in 50 overs, as Pakistani bowlers displayed great control on nerves and outstanding death-overs skills.
Pakistan’s opponent in the Saturday’s final of ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be decided after the second semi final between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on Thursday.
TikTok
has become the most downloaded social media app in Pakistan in 2019, according
to US-based market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
TikTok , a Chinese iOS and Android social media video app for
creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos
As per reports, WhatsApp is the most downloaded non-gaming app in Pakistan this year with 18.1 million downloads, while TikTok is second on the list with 16.3 million downloads in the past eleven months.
The
data compiled by Mobile Insights Strategist Craig Chapple, shows that TikTok
has exceeded 1.5 billion downloads globally on the App Store and Google Play and
it continues to be one of the world’s most popular apps.
Other
apps in the list include, Messenger with 15.7 million downloads, Facebook with
just over 15 million downloads while Instagram is on the fifth spot with 4.3
million downloads.
Sensor
Tower is the leading provider of market intelligence and insights for the
global app economy. TikTok has been downloaded 25.5 million times in Pakistan
since its launch, becoming one of the fastest growing social media apps in the
country.
The federal government is reportedly contemplating imposing a complete ban on the use of social media by government servants during work hours.
According to reports in the local media, this suggestion was put forth by the National Information Technology Board (NITB) officials during a meeting of National Assembly (NA) standing committee on Information and Technology.
Reports stated that not only would the use of social media applications or pages including Facebook and Whatsapp be banned during the office timings but officials would also be barred from bringing storage devices-USBs- to the offices. This recommendation was put forth to address concerns related to data theft. Recently, a spate of leaked notifications from government offices has sparked anger in power circles.
It has even led to the circulation of fake notifications on social media to discredit a particular governmental agency or official. The technology board has urged the government to act against this threat.
The committee was informed that a new local social network, modeled on WhatsApp, would be introduced into government offices to streamline communications.
E-offices will be established at every ministry, which will be interconnected.
“Any official information would be shared on the server after prior approval of the federal authorities.”
Moreso, it was recommended that government employees be barred from indulging in any part-time businesses.
Meanwhile, the board also advised that a separate authority be set up to combat the spread of fake news across the country.
